Thursday 10 December 2009

No 9710, Thursday 10 Dec 09, Nita Jaggi

I am about to give up on NJ's CW's and may give my blog a break for 10 days in the month!!
ACROSS
1 - Note left in the beginning to keep back the colour (4) - ECRU Anno pending
9 - False understanding of miners pain, hopes to be resolved (15) - MISAPPREHENSION*
10 - Hard of hearing to fade-out (4) - DEAF*
11 - Start a military attack (5) - ONSET [CD]
12 - Money-changer’s financial gain? (4) - ANTE ? (Correction - AGIO [CD] - New word for me. Thanks to Sembhayya)
13 - Move quietly in a fenced pen (5) - CREEP [DD]
14 - It may be written only to be assumed! (2,5) - ON PAPER [CD]
16 - Go into former state again, friend is back in London area (7) - {RE}{LAP<-}{SE}
18 - Danger for each individual in the capital of Libya (5) - {PER}{I}L}
22 - Key worker holds the instructions initially (4) - MA{I}N
23 - Fat, old boy is at ease losing the articles (5) - {OB}{E(-a)SE}
24 - Plans the weather-charts (4) - MAPS [DD]
25 - Highly melodramatic lawyer has to-do underhand adjustments (5,3,7) - {BL}OOD AND THUNDER*
26 - Keep in mind the legal document when money is taken for a diamond (4) - DEE(-d+m)M
DOWN
2 - Bargain for the stove without you (7) - CHA(-u)FFER Didn't know this meaning of Chauffer
3 - Unplanned people, perhaps lacking the experience! (14) - UNPROFESSIONAL [DD]
4 - Weary traveller is initially in anger with the Democrat (5) - {T}{IRE}{D}
5 - Regularly the man sees to poke fun (5) - {T}{E}{A}{S}{E}
6 - Teaching way in ten, decent homes is corrected (8,6) - SENTENCE METHOD *
7 - North America is after the apes, largely in the monarchy (6) - {ESPA*}{NA}
8 - Pays attention to the given warnings (7) - ?O?T?E? (Addendum - NOTICES [DD] - Thanks to Sembhayya )
15 - Happens to rewrite the fables covering lions at first (7) - BEFA{L}LS
17 - Bag for a gutless man in to conceal an egg (6) - {A}{M(-a)N}{I{O}N}

19 - Very large, single medal is seen to be fake (7) - {I}{MM}{ENSE*}
20 - Controls the English city, overheard (5) - LEADS(~leeds)
21 - Unhappy to trap the harmful pest (5) - {U}{PSET*}




GRID


40 comments:

  1. Col

    Re the suggested break for ten days a month (I know you are not serious!):

    The frustration is quite understandable and justified. Maybe it is shared by most of the readers here.

    In the unlikely event of your finally deciding to do that, can you think of a suitable substitute for ten days? Otherwise, what will we do during early hours of the morning?


    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  2. I managed to complete TT/THT crossword in quite reasonable time and wrote a full-fledged blog the other day. The xwd is good but at the same time very difficult. As I am busy already I don't have time to pursue it single-handedly.

    Whatever the times recorded in a certain international website (often under 15 mins), I can never complete it in such record times.

    Yesterday CGB posted a clue sheet in the Orkut NIE community but he withdrew it later probably because of lack of patronage.

    Solving it will add to our crossword solving ability.

    We can also consider accessing the present-day paid-for Times xwd from the UK site and privately sharing it among those interested.

    This will have to be a private group as providing the clues publicly may not be tolerated by the newspaper concerned. Except the DT site I know no blog that provides clues with answers.

    Also a select group is necessary because the crossword is difficult and regular participation is needed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Across

    1 Note left in the beginning to keep back the colour (4)

    Can't get this.

    9 False understanding of miners pain, hopes to be resolved (15) MISAPPREHENSION

    Good anagram

    10 Hard of hearing to fade-out (4) DEAF

    An unnecessary hyphen here. Hyphens in a compound word always give it a noun sense. Was it a printing error or was it intended to confuse?

    14 It may be written only to be assumed! (2,5)

    Nice one.

    23 Fat, old boy is at ease losing the articles (5) OBESE

    Here only 'a' is lost, so why 'articles'?

    Down

    3 Unplanned people, perhaps lacking the experience! (14)

    Cleverly contrived.

    6 Teaching way in ten, decent homes is corrected (8,6) SENTENCE METHOD

    Incidentally, CONSENTED THEME is another anagram, but does not fit here.

    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  4. Right now I am in a very busy schedule: shifting my house and my forthcoming long trip to North Carolina in mid Jan. Yes, it would be nice if we could have a group solving HT or TT puzzles. I did post one yesterday and later withdrew it. Of course very few would have noticed it. One could hone his/her solving skills by looking at the annos, etc. And nothing like solving a crossword as a group!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Col Sir,

    I solve only The Guardian crossword when NJ and Manna are running riot on THC, unlike other days when I try to squeeze in both. I just visit this blog and THC orkut community to see if anything interesting is happening on such days. But then,unlike you, I can afford to choose and pick as I dont have the huge responsibilty of running such a popular blog.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Vasi sir,

    I like your idea about TT/THT as well as the present day Times xwd. But my work doesnot accord me the luxury of taking on one more xwd unless I sacrifice my evening run/game of squash. And even if I do that the proposed group/blog would have finished discussing the xwd and shut shop for the day by that time .

    ReplyDelete
  7. You're right, maddy, about the responsibility attached to running a regular blog. I am one among those who admire Deepak for his diligence.

    As you know I am blogging on the Daily Telegraph crossword every Monday. I complete the puzzle in less than 30 minutes but writing the blog takes several hours especially because I am not a proper typist.

    But being a superannuated man, I don't have the pressures of paid-for work; the work I do is for joy!

    ReplyDelete
  8. maddy,

    Don't give up your pleasures! Enjoy life to the hilt!

    ReplyDelete
  9. 8d would be NOTICES .So 12A iz A-I-

    ReplyDelete
  10. Since you are doing The Guardian how about starting a private group (maybe Wordpress).

    If the time zone favours you, you can copy-paste the clues from the PDF file and put up some intial answers and go to work. We will then progress and see how far we can go.

    I bet that neither The Guardian crossword nor The HT/TT or TT will get completed that quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Suresh,

    Didn't you er notice that Sembhayya has provided the answer to two clues?

    ReplyDelete
  12. @Chaturvasi
    I did not notice.Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks Sembhayya,
    You are absolutely right about 8D and 12A

    ReplyDelete
  14. I will get thrown out of the house if I start on another CW, as it is my wife complains that she cannot get in a word edgewise when I am working on my 8:30 dealine as I hate being interuppted when I am at it.
    The Guardian cryptic, from what I have seen at times is too anglicised and some place names and phrases are really obscure.
    No harm in giving a try with the HT/TT CW as suggested by Chaturvasi.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anyone for the Anno of 1A ECRU ?

    ReplyDelete
  16. My guess is a failed attempt at reversing LUCRE, with "left in the beginning" meaning remove the first letter. That gives ERCU, of course, but with NJ anything goes.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I think Shuchi has got it right. Lucre or money can be equated with note.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I like Chaturvasi's idea on HT/TT CW. If there is no deadline like Colonel Gopinath's 8.30am one, I would look at it at various times of the day and try to complete it.

    ReplyDelete
  19. My take - (-so)URCE

    Note - SO
    Left - deletion indicator
    The Beginning - Source
    Note left in the beginning => delete 'SO' from 'SOURCE'

    to keep back - reversal indicator
    Colour - Def

    ReplyDelete
  20. Note left in the beggining to keep back the colour

    How about this solution

    Note = SO
    left in the begining = deletion from the beginning
    to keep = SOURCE
    back = reversal indicator
    colour = Definition = (-so){URCE<-}

    ReplyDelete
  21. Good job, friends ! One little word ECRU - a four-letter one at that - is being looked at from so many different angles that even the compiler might be flabbergasted !


    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  22. Looks like Maddy and I shouted 'EUREKA' almost simultaneously :-)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Maddy's anno is the right one though

    ReplyDelete
  24. Col Sir,

    (An off topic post. You can delete it if you find it inappropriate. )

    Speaking of The Guardian, today's Araucaria xwd had the longest solution to a clue I have ever seen in a crossword .

    "Harem without a doubt (first and last and centre): come fly to chaos, keeping killer
    now endlessly in French and English church with
    cult work of the ’70s (3,3,3,3,2,10,11)"

    I got the answer quite fast but it took me about 10 mins to work out the anno. Any takers?

    ReplyDelete
  25. *wiping sweat off the brow*

    Harem without a doubt (first and last and centre): come fly to chaos, keeping killer now endlessly in French and English church (3,3,3,3,2,10,11)

    ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE

    Harem without a = ZENANA - A = ZEN/AN
    doubt (first and last = D/T
    and: connector
    center = HE/ART
    (come fly to)* = OF/MOTYCLE
    chaos = anagrind
    keeping = c/c ind
    killer = ORC
    now endlessly in French = MAINTENANT - T = MAINTENAN
    English church = CE

    ReplyDelete
  26. OK, what is the longest single word for which a crossword clue has been published?

    Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

    It is a Welsh place name.

    Rufus (the setter of our NIE syndicated puzzle) says elsewhere: "It appeared in a crossword in a special edition of the Wrekin & Telford News in 1979 to commemmorate the 200th anniversary of the (first ever) Iron Bridge. To be fair to the solver, the clue was an anagram - took time to find as there are very few vowels."

    The clue?

    Please wait as I have to leave the computer chair and get a book.

    ReplyDelete
  27. The clue is

    Giggling troll follows Clancy, Larry, Billy and Peggy who howl, wrongly disturbing a place in Wales (58)

    Anagram lover Richard, are you there?

    This clue is found in the preface to The Guardian Cryptic Setters Series RUFUS - a book sent to me as a gift by the setter.

    ReplyDelete
  28. This clue is sure to make make Richard give up his love for anagrams.
    There is an article on this place in Wiki, but it is not the longest in the world. This distinction goes to the following place in Thailand. Krungthepmahanakornamornratanakosinmahintarayutthayamahadilokphopnopparatrajathaniburiromudomrajaniwesmahasatharnamornphimarnavatarnsathitsakkattiyavisanukamprasit.

    ReplyDelete
  29. OMG, happened to log in right in time, dear Chats. I am too stunned and dumbfounded. Lost for words.

    Hope you didn't post it just to target me. :)


    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  30. Thank you too, Suresh.

    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  31. The name of the place in Thailand mentioned by Suresh needs to be anagrammed, lets see who can come out with the best clue for it by this weekend, it has only 163!!!!! letters

    ReplyDelete
  32. Suresh,
    Where did you get that word from? a google search says 'word too long, try using a shorter word'!!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Deepak,

    Sorry, I am not game.

    I have taken part in anagram-writing competitions (as a variation of clue-writing competitions) on a UK website in which we have to jumble phrases with fifty or more characters but this is just off-putting.

    ReplyDelete
  34. OK, I have made a modest beginning.

    The first 40 characters of that Thai name make the following anagram:

    Oh man ! Hurrah ! Anna Karenina marking stamp not OK.

    Whatever that implies. I will keep the rest for another time.

    Richie

    ReplyDelete
  35. Google for longest place name in the world

    ReplyDelete
  36. This is the full name of Bangkok

    ReplyDelete
  37. "...like a lot of today’s clues, the surface reading is nonsense"

    No. I am not talking about today's THC at all. This is a quote from a UK blog on a UK crossword puzzle.

    So people assess any crossword by anyone on its intrinsic merits.

    ReplyDelete

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